1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to supported catalysts containing a precious group metal and, and more particularly, to an engine exhaust catalyst containing platinum and bismuth and an engine exhaust treatment system that employs such a catalyst.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many industrial products such as fuels, lubricants, polymers, fibers, drugs, and other chemicals would not be manufacturable without the use of catalysts. Catalysts are also essential for the reduction of pollutants, particularly air pollutants created during the production of energy and by automobiles. Many industrial catalysts are composed of a high surface area support material upon which chemically active metal nanoparticles (i.e., nanometer sized metal particles) are dispersed. The support materials are generally inert, ceramic type materials having surface areas on the order of hundreds of square meters/gram. This high specific surface area usually requires a complex internal pore system. The metal nanoparticles are deposited on the support and dispersed throughout this internal pore system, and are generally between 1 and 100 nanometers in size.
Processes for making supported catalysts go back many years. One such process for making platinum catalysts, for example, involves the contacting of a support material such as alumina with a metal salt solution such as hexachloroplatinic acid in water. The metal salt solution “impregnates” or fills the pores of the support during this process. Following the impregnation, the support containing the metal salt solution would be dried, causing the metal salt to precipitate within the pores. The support containing the precipitated metal salt would then be calcined (typically in air) and, if necessary, exposed to a reducing gas environment (e.g., hydrogen or carbon monoxide) for further reduction to form metal particles. Another process for making supported catalysts involves the steps of contacting a support material with a metal salt solution and reducing the metal ions to metal particles in situ using suitable reducing agents.
Supported catalysts are quite useful in removing pollutants from vehicle exhausts. Vehicle exhausts contain harmful pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NOx), that contribute to the “smog-effect” that have plagued major metropolitan areas across the globe. Catalytic converters containing supported catalysts and particulate filters have been used to remove such harmful pollutants from the vehicle exhaust. While pollution from vehicle exhaust has decreased over the years from the use of catalytic converters and particulate filters, research into improved supported catalysts has been continuing as requirements for vehicle emission control have become more stringent and as vehicle manufacturers seek to use less amounts of precious metal in the supported catalysts to reduce the total cost of emission control.
The prior art teaches the use of supported catalysts promoted with bismuth for purifying diesel engine exhaust gases. U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,961 teaches a catalyst composition for use as a diesel engine exhaust catalyst that comprises a titania carrier containing platinum and bismuth oxide. U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,899 teaches a catalyst composition for use as a diesel engine exhaust catalyst that comprises a CuO-doped carrier, such as CuO-doped zirconia or CuO-doped titania, containing platinum and bismuth oxide.